Clutch.



PATENTED MAY 22, 1906.

1?. M. ASHLEY.

CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1899.

ATTORNEY ICE.

FRANK M. ASHLEY, OF. NEW YORK, N. Y.

CLUTCH.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed June 14, 1899. Serial No. 720.510.

Patented May 22, 1906.

T0 (LLZ whom it inn/y concern:

Be it known that I. FRANK M. ASHLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clutches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention consists of a clutch of improved construction adapted to connect an engine orother prime mover with a driven shaft and maintain the connection up to the normal speed of the driven shaft and to disconnect said engine or other prime mover from said shaft when the speed of the engine tends to fall below the normal rate of that of the said shaft.

The improved clutch will be found particu larly useful in connection with power trans mission, whereby the power generated by an engine or other generator which does not run at a constant speed can transmit the power it generates to the driven shaft or place of consumption at a more uniform rate of speed. 1

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side view of a clutch mechanism embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the clutch shown in F i 1, and Fig. 3 is a detail view of a modified orm of clutch-shoe.

I desi nates the driven shaft, and fixed to lthis shaf t is a hubh2 or other suitable nlipans -or su ortin t e ri in -s oes. on the hu are a numb er fff standards 3 3 in which are pivotally mounted links 4 41, the latter carrying at their extremities pivotally-mounted gripping-shoes 5 5 5. A circular rim .6 is mounted upon a bearing of the hub 2, whereby the rim is free to rotate independently of the shaft and hub. The rim 6 1s provided with a surface adapted to receive a belt or with other means whereby the rim may be connected with the engine or other generator.

The rim 6 is provided with an inner circumferential gripping-surface 7, against which the shoes 5 5 are adapted to fit. The links 4 are of sufficient len th to provide that the shoe" shall project sT' ightly forward of the standard 3 1n the direction opposite to that in which the hub is to be rotated. For instance, in the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 the'links so incline that when the rim is rotated from right to left and at the proper speed the shoes '5 will grip the friction-surface 7 and rotate the hub and shaft. Each link 4 is provided with shoulders 8 8, if preferred, to present means, as illustrated' in Fig. 1, for preventing the shoe from falling too far away from the gripping-surface. If desired, each shoe may be equipped with wooden grips 9 9, as illustrated in Fig. 3, to promote the frictionally-engaging capacity of the shoe.

In the operation of the described device the shoes 5 are normally out of engagement with the rim 6, except that one or two of said shoes may rest against the same by reason of their own weight, as would be the case with the shoes 16 and 17 in Fi 1. When the engine starts up, therewill e little friction between these two shoes and the gripping-surface, and therefore the engine is permitted to freely exert its power in getting under way, the effect being that the rim 6 is ractically loosely revolved. The hub and s aft, however, acquire a motion which as it is accelerated causes the other shoes to come into engagement with the friction-surface 7 and transmit the full speed of the engine to the hub and shaft. When the speed of the rim under the action of the engine tends to exceed the normal runnin speed, the engine cut-off will at such eriod operate to cause the engine under t e resistance of its load to Slow down, under which conditions the rim 6 will run at a slower rate than the hub and shaft, and hence operate to effect the disconnection of the frictional engagement of the shoes therewith, the hub and shaft continuing to rotate at a normal speed under the action of the momentum acquired. The engine can then be again run at an increasin rate until it 'e uals the rate of revolution of tie hub and sha t, whereupon the shoeswill further grip the rim and the driving and driven arts operate synchronously. Manifestlytffe action of the clutch is such that the shaft 1 and machine receiving motion from the same are operated at a constant speed irrespective of variations in the speed of the gas-engine or other poweregenerator.

The construction of the improved clutch is such that it is exceedingly compact and is quickly sensible of and positively o erative under varyi g conditions between t e drivin and driven parts.

he ravital movement of the shoes, limited by t e shoulders 8 8, permits said shoes to be supported for ready engagement with the rim without the liability of the shoes falling v provided with a projecting bearing, of a rim revolubly supported on said bearing, links pivotally connected to the hub and carrying shoes normally in juxtaposition to said rim, each link solely sup orting its shoe normally to one side of the ink connection with the hub and in a direction opposite to that in which the rim is to be driven, whereby the revolution of the rim'in one direction will cause the shoes to frictionally engage therewith and drive the hub and its shaft, and subsequently upon a speed of the rim lower than that of the hub and shaft result in a disengagement of said shoes with said rim.

2. The combination in a clutch, of a driven shaft having a hub revoluble therewith and provided with a projecting bearing, of a rim revolubly supported on said bearing, links pivotally connected to the hub and carrying shoes normally in juxtaposition to said rim, each link being of approximately triangular form to present oppositely-extending shoulders, and solely supporting its shoe normally to one side of the link connectionwith the hub and in a direction opposite to that in which the rim is to be driven, whereby the revolution of the rim in one direction will cause the shoes to frictionally engage therewith and drive the hub and its shaft, and subsequently upon a speed of the rim lower than that of the hub and shaft result in a disengagement of said shoes with said rim.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK M. ASHLEY.

Witnesses:

C. V. EDWARDS, ALEX FERGUSON. 

